


All Things Zude

by katikat



Category: Hit the Floor (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-08-16 17:48:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8111653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katikat/pseuds/katikat
Summary: All my Zude fics and ficlets in one place.





	1. To Beat the Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set after 310, 311 never happened. Jude finds a way to deal with Oscar. It will hurt. (Unbeta'd)

Leaning against his pillow, Jude looks down at Zero, who’s lying on his side next to him, fast asleep. They didn’t talk much before bed, Jude was still too shaken by the sudden upheaval in their lives and Zero too angry about it to have a proper conversation about their options. 

 _Options_ … There _are_ no options. Zero’s leaving LA, and Jude has to stay to protect Lionel from his father. He _has_ to. If he leaves, too, Oscar will destroy Lionel, of that Jude has no doubt. 

Sighing, Jude lifts a hand to touch Zero, maybe stroke his hair, but in the last moment, he changes his mind and instead he rubs his face hard. God, he has to come up with something, some… _some way_ how to fix this mess.

Jelena won’t change her mind, that’s given. Zero pissed her off so much that she will _not_ let this chance at revenge slide. Zero _will_ be traded, he _will_ leave LA. There’s nothing Jude can do about _that_. 

And that leaves Oscar. He has to somehow, in some way ensure Lionel’s safety, so that he can leave with Zero. Because he wants to, leave with Zero, that is. Yes, working for the Devils has always been his dream, but Zero is…   _everything_. Jude can find another job.

But there’s only one certain way to keep Lionel safe, and that’s to get rid of Oscar. Not _rid_ rid, Jude’s not _that_ kind of a guy, but make sure that Oscar can’t get anywhere near Lionel - or Jude himself, for that matter. 

And that means… that means putting Oscar back behind bars. Somehow. For something that will ensure his prolonged stay there. And in a way that Oscar will _not_ be able to weasel out of it. 

A serious crime committed in front of a lot of witnesses…

_Shit._

* * *

It’s easy to make Oscar offer them his house for Zero’s farewell party, thrown and paid for by the Devils, of course. Both Oscar and Jelena simply glow with glee, the former at his son’s misfortune, the latter at her ex-lover’s. 

Jude would have never thought that it would be this easy to manipulate them all into one place. But vanity does wonders. The house is full of people milling around and laughing, only Zero, Jude and Lionel don’t seem happy about this turn of events, not surprisingly. But even that plays into Jude’s hand. Now just the finishing touch… 

He turns to Zero, who’s sulking in the corner, keeping up with Lionel’s attempt to get as drunk as possible as fast as possible. Jude leans in to capture Zero’s mouth with his own in a soft, sweet kiss, then he tells his lover softly, “I need to go and talk to Oscar, alright? Be back in a minute.”

Zero nods, not really listening, too maudlin about his upcoming departure, so Jude turns and goes, thinking anxiously, _Liar!_

Oscar’s waiting for him on the second story landing, by the railing, like Jude asked. There’s a half-filled glass in his hand - his cheeks are a little too flushed, his eyes a little too bright from too much alcohol already - and his lips twist in a sneer while he watches Jude come up the stairs. 

 _Perfect,_ Jude thinks, _it won’t take much…_

“What did you want to talk about?” Oscar demands pompously. “I have very little time, especially for inept idiots.”

And Jude starts talking. 

He tells his father everything, every little dirty lie, every little dirty secret he has unearthed out about him, simply everything, every little thing the man thought hidden, everything Jude just heard about in passing, things he can’t prove, that nobody can prove, but that doesn’t matter, in the right hands - or wrong hands - those thing can still do a lot of damage, whispered in a journalist’s ear or told boldly to Oscar’s business partners or investors. Jude does not hold back.

He watches his father’s face turn red, then purple with annoyance at first, then with anger and fury, while Jude makes certain his father knows that he will do it, he will talk to anyone willing to listen and he _will_ destroy Oscar Kinkade, his reputation, his standing, his legacy, _simply everything_. And if Jude goes down together with him, then be it.

The glass shatters in Oscar’s hand, and finally, _finally_ , Oscar breaks, too, his self-control eroded by his son’s gall to talk to him in such a way. “You fucking bastard!” Oscar yells, making the people downstairs look up in shock, a hush falling over the house. “I’ll kill you first!”

And when he grabs Jude by the lapels of his simple gray suit and pulls him close, almost spitting in his face, Jude smiles, just the corners of his mouth quirking up, and whispers, “Thank you - dad!”

And with that he throws himself backwards, over the railing, slipping out of Oscar’s grasp, his father’s shocked face the last thing he sees.

_Shit, this will hurt._

* * *

He wakes up in the hospital, aching from head to toe. He tries to move, but every muscle, every bone in his body screams at him. He clenches his teeth and groans, eyes squeezed shut to ride out the pain. 

“Hey, hey, don’t try to move,” a voice whispers by his bedside, and there’s a warm hand touching his face. _Zero_.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Jude opens his eyes to slits. Zero’s leaning over him, pale and haggard looking, with deep, purple smudges under his eyes that are suspiciously bright in the soft light. 

“Hey,” Jude croaks out.

Zero grins, like he has been just been handed the moon and the stars. “Hey, stupid.”

“Wha happ’n?” Jude manages to ask through parched lips. 

“You don’t remember?” Zero whispers. And when Jude makes a negative noise, he replies, “I don’t know what you told Oscar, but he went completely bananas, grabbed you and threw you off the second story landing.” 

Zero pauses, shuts his eyes and squeezes Jude’s fingers lightly. “When I saw you fall, when you hit the floor…” He takes a deep breath to steady himself. “I thought you were dead, that you were gone. Don’t you ever, _ever_ scare me like this again!”

Jude _hmms._ “How… bad?” He has to know just how badly he screwed himself.

Zero looks at him and turns even paler. “Fractured skull, fractured vertebrae, broken collarbone, broken…” His voice fails him. He takes another breath and gives Jude a shaky smile. “It’ll take time, but you will be alright. You’ll heal. The doctors don’t think there’s any permanent damage, thank God.” 

“And Osc’r?” 

Zero’s eyes turn furious. “That fucker had the audacity to claim you _jumped_! We all saw him push you, and he keeps claiming that you did this to yourself! Luckily there’s some tough as nails detective on his case, taking no shit from him. This time, he won’t get off easy, I promise you that.”

Jude swallows, his throat dry. “He in… jail?”

Zero laughs. “You can bet your cute ass on that, has been for days now, and they won’t be letting him out any time soon!”

“How long?”

Leaning in, Zero strokes his stubbled cheek gently. “Since it happened? Four days.” He runs his finger over Jude’s lower lip. “You really scared me,” he adds softly. 

Closing his eyes, Jude mumbles. “Sorry.”

He feels Zero shake his head. “Not your fault. You just get better now, okay? We’ll figure out everything later, I promise.”

Jude _hmms_ again, and enjoys the warmth of Zero’s lips, softly kissing his own. 

It’s done. They’re finally free. And nobody will ever know the truth.

He sleeps.


	2. Ransomed Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ransom note comes with the morning post. (Unbeta'd)

The ransom note comes with the morning post.

Jude left for Boston the day before, on a business trip, and though Zero was a little surprised that Jude didn’t call that night, nor did he pick up his phone when Zero called _him_ , not that he was needy or anything, he just thought that Jude was tired and crashed early. 

But then he finds the ransom note, glued to a photo of Jude, beaten, bloody and bound. And even though Zero has always prided himself to be the best at everything, in this case… in this case, he knows he’s way over his head. 

He calls the police.

“Can you get the money?” the detective asks him when they set up everything for The Call in his and Jude’s flat.

Zero just stares at him. The kidnapper asked for a million dollars. Zero would give ten times as much and throw his Porsche collection on top of that, if need be, just to get Jude back. Money’s not the issue here, his missing - hurting and bleeding! - _boyfriend_ is! He wants to punch the detective, but he just nods. 

“This looks personal,” the detective comments, looking down at the photo of Jude. It’s a little blurry, true, but the bright red blood, the cuts and the slowly darkening bruises are clearly visible. “Do you know of anyone who would do this?”

Zero stands there with his arms crossed over his chest, unable to think. His mind can’t seem to find its way past the picture of Jude, hurt and helpless, that seems to have seared itself into his brain. Personal, it looks _personal_. Someone isn’t just after his money, that person wants to _hurt_ Zero - hurt him by hurting Jude. And Zero has no idea who it could be. He shakes his head. 

“I’m sorry to have to ask you this,” the detective continues, looking rather uncomfortable, “but are you sure this is real? The kidnapping, I mean,” he explains when Zero stares at him with incomprehension. “Your… partner, he _is_ Oscar Kinkade’s son, after all.”

And Zero is seized with fury so terrible his vision goes red. He will punch the guy in the teeth if he thinks that Jude would– 

Lionel grabs him by the arm, obviously sensing the imminent blow-up. He called her, Jude’s best friend slash ex-stepmother, because she needed, _deserved_ to know, not because he, Zero, needed someone here, someone who loves Jude at least half as much as he does. He does not need anyone - except he does, because he’s falling apart. If Jude doesn’t come back… 

The Call comes at 11:04 am, a strange, distorted voice rattling off demands that simply wash over Zero in a wild rush. It’s not until the man - it’s a man! - pauses for breath that Zero seems to really come to his senses, return to reality - and demands a proof of life. 

“Gideon?” There’s a soft croak on the other side of the line, and it’s _Jude_ , it’s really him! “I’m good, don’t worry. I just wish I used the key you gave me…”

And there’s a thump and a pain-filled groan in the phone and Zero’s calling Jude’s name, but the kidnapper’s back, back for just a second to yell at Zero, to repeat the time and place for the exchange, money for his boyfriend.

“What was that? The thing with the key?” the detective asks. 

Zero’s still hearing Jude’s groan and his heart’s beating so wild it hurts, but his mind’s working again, because that must’ve been a clue if Jude risked more punishment just to tell Zero that, and that means… 

He gave Jude only one key - well, two, but the one to the Porsche does not count, he doubts the kidnapper’s keeping Jude stashed away in its minuscule trunk. And the other key was to…

“I know where that asshole is holding Jude,” Zero says with absolute certainty.

And he’s right, the SWAT team proves him right, the man - one of Zero’s foster siblings, of all people, a drunk wreck of a man who never made anything of himself and thought he could mooch off the star he grew up with - is keeping Jude in Zero’s childhood home, bound, gagged and beaten half unconscious. Zero could kill the guy on the spot if he weren’t too concerned with getting to Jude right this minute.

He stays in the car till he gets the all-clear sign, one leg bouncing-bouncing- _bouncing_ impatiently. The second the detective waves at him, he’s out and running, passing the EMTs on their way in, tearing inside the house, and following the pointed fingers of the cops in full gear…

And then he’s sinking to his knees by Jude’s side, afraid to touch because it seems like every part of Jude’s body is bruised or scraped or at least spattered with blood, but Jude, now unbound and lying as comfortably as possible on the dirty mattress on the floor, is trying to smile at him, which is just heartbreaking. 

“Hey, stupid,” Zero whispers hoarsely, running his fingertips oh so gently over Jude’s brow. “You scared the living daylights out of me. Do you want me to go all premature gray or what?”

“You would… look great…” Jude manages to reply, wheezing a little and trying to maintain a smile on his cracked and swollen lips. 

And then the EMTs are there and Zero is shoved unceremoniously aside, but he reaches out and holds onto Jude’s fingers, at the very least, needing to keep in touch, just to be sure, absolutely sure, that his boyfriend is really there and alive. 

And for the first time that day, Zero feels like he can breathe again.


End file.
